THE HEART AND SOUL OF ANIMATIONS: ADULT ENTERTAINMENT IN SECONDLIFE - JOSH (THOMAS1 BELLIC REPORTING

‘Tis the Season to be Shopping.  And in the course of my hunt for truly unique Gifts, and I came upon an amazing store called Heart and Soul. In an adjoining workshop, I stumbled upon Abbbadon Soulstar and his partner Q-Baby, hard at work building the latest in animated furniture.  As they stopped for lunch, I was able to chat with these amazing builders. 

Josh (Thomas1 Bellic) (JB):  So tell us, Abs.  How long have you been in the business of animating furniture?

Abs™ (abbadon.soulstar) (AS): I started building and animating prim furniture way back in 2012. I had a few items on Marketplace and then I met Q-Baby!  We partnered on a few projects. I did the animating and she did the texturing. We quickly figured out what we are a match made in heaven!

JB:  You have literally hundreds of animated pieces in your store. Where do you get your inspiration?

AS:  Q-baby and I play off each other really. We get inspired by a lot of things. Real life furniture pieces, our interest in role play, and thinking about unusual places and ways to get your groove on.

JB:  Do you build your items from scratch, or do you take existing items available elsewhere and spruce them up with animations?

We have several partners who make exclusive mesh items for us. We also work with partners for custom animations when we want something really special for a piece. We will use mesh kits if they are great quality or an item we have really been wanting to see animated in SL.

JB:  OK Abs… tell me…and I promise to keep it just between you and me….(and our 40,000 readers each month)…..what are some of your personal Favs in animated furnishings here?

AS:  My favorite animated item is usually the one I'm currently working on LOL. Maybe it's my OCD but I spend a lot of time thinking out the menu and how animations can flow together on each piece. Q-baby obsesses over colors and textures and getting things to look just so. We are both really invested in making sure each piece we put out is amazing.  But to be fairly specific, here are just a few items I'm really proud of that I’d like to mention with a little background on how they came together.

1- H&S~Girl Power-Pole & Lap Dance Sex Table v2:  This was a very fun project we worked on with our partnering Mesh Creator and Animators/Script writers to bring the vision I had to life. This item is a great club or home piece. The RP is well thought out and gives our customers the ability to take it to the next level of RP.

2- H&S~Passions Complete HUD:  Here we took an old idea and breathed into it new technology and features never available back in the MLP Script sets and XPOSE days.  Avsitter which is the current gold standard in script sets is feature rich as well as adaptable.  Clever script writers can write plug ins to even further enrich the features available...ok ok i'm slipping into "Nerd mode" lol... But it was fun to put it together so a customer can wear a very small HUD on the corner of the screen and literally RP anywhere they can rez the pose balls that the HUD generates.  

3- H&S~Truths & Dares V 1.2.:   Back in my early SL days there used to be a really fun game created by a fellow who is no longer in SL. Jpose built a Truth & Dare game based off the MLP script set.  It was a really fun ice-breaker party game. Of course, it was a bit naughty; which made it even more fun "grins".  What we did with that idea was bring it into today with loads of awesome animations. Avsitter as the base engine, and a very clever script set that employs algorithms to match players up gives them choices of selecting some pretty funny truth questions or dares and to be as naughty as they wanna be. The game automatically levels up the heat the longer you play. And there's also the menu option to "increase the heat" should players like a faster pace. We have it in 2 languages and have been offered by several customers to translate it into their language because they have enjoyed playing and would like tonshare it with their native speakers.

JB:  As you know, there is no shortage of places here that sell adult animated furniture in SecondLife.  What is the “Heart and Soul” difference and why should people come here for all their animated furnishings needs?

AS:  I think our name, Heart & Soul, sums it up. We aren't just pushing out items in assembly line style. We really take time to think about who is going to be using our pieces. So, we tend to put our hearts and souls into the menus, animations and textures trying to make them the best they can be. As I look around SL I see cheaper pieces but you aren't getting the quality animations and well thought-out menus that makes our stuff so popular. We both are very proud of our work. Our policy and goal since starting Heart & Soul Designs has been 100% customer focus and the best customer support available anywhere.

JB:  Do you ever run Sales or have special “Members Only” good deals?

AS:  Oh yes, we love our VIP Members! Every month we do a new release item at least half off for our Members. For major holidays we will do half off or more for the entire store. For Christmas we did a sweet little holiday rug at a deep, deep discount. Our Members loved it!

JB:  Tell me about Indulgence Island?  What can visitors expect there?

AS:  Indulgence Island is the adult sim below the store. It's a tropical paradise for anyone who wants to use it. We sprinkle it with our creations so folks can use them before they buy.  But, mostly it's our way to give back to the SL community. We allow residents to rez their own toys, open boxes, and just relax and use the sim to do what SL was created for...have fun! The only rule are we ask people to not be rude to other visitors and no child or under age avatar visitors. 

JB:  Do you host events there, or is it more for people who want to get “Far from the maddening crowd”?

AS:  We have free-lance DJs who do their own events. It's a great hang out when people are there and a peaceful beach when there aren't.  LOL.  We let people throw parties for their friends Rez days other celebrations whatever they want to do.  

JB:  You have added animations to everything from John Deere Tractors to Motorcycles, and from Spinet Upright Pianos to Hot Air Balloon baskets.   What new things can we expect to see animated in the coming months?

AS:  Spring time will no doubt get the creative gears into motion again. I feel a hot tub coming on in the near future. Sometimes Q and I riff on each other, spit-balling crazy ideas until we say "Hey.... that's a project!"  Hence the creation of the Redneck Hot Tub LOL. A tractor tire filled with dirty water, floating beer cans and ashtrays and oh yeah and some hot animations!

JB:  Is there anything else you would like to share with our SL Enquirer Readers?

AS:  Q and I are regular folks. We are here to have fun like everyone else.  We don't do this for a living other than SL, we do this because we enjoy it.  It's fun to share our creations with folks and know they are having fun with them like we are.

We appreciate our partners and customers more than we can express. We think SL is big enough for more than just H&S so we encourage people to be creative and pursue their passions and most of all Jeffrey Epstein didn't hang himself.  LOL

Sooooo..There you have it folks. Whether you are helping to build the grid’s next Adult region, or merely outfitting your back-porch deck, for the finest in animated furniture available anywhere in SecondLife, be sure and check out the stock at Heart and Soul. Even if all you are doing is shopping, plan a sizable chunk of time for your visit here. There is SOOO MUCH to see and try out here. And don’t forget to rezz a Hot Air Balloon for the ultimate in ballooning pleasure.

Be there.  Aloha!

JB

Heart & Soul Store    SURL:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fontana/133/94/2501

Indulgence Island     SURL:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fontana/201/210/24